Little Hilltopper

Okay, I know I said I was all caught up sewing for Baby Hayden but I saw a men's red and black striped T-shirt on the clearance rack at WalMart for $3.00 and it reminded me of the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers. Since Hayden has a gown for his dad's school, I thought he needed one for his mom's alma mater. I bought the largest size they had so I would have plenty of fabric for the gown and accessories.

I used Kwik Sew 3090 again for the gown and Kwik Sew 2433 for the hat. The tutorial for the pacifier clip can be found here. I took the pocket off the T-shirt and made a tiny little pocket for the gown.

 I like the elastic at the bottom edge to keep little feet from poking out.

I was able to salvage the knit ribbing from the neckline of the T-shirt and used it to make the sleeve ribbing for this gown rather than the hand covers.

And this is my sewing buddy, Kitty Boo. She loves to keep me company when I sew. I found her at the Humane Society with that "take me home" look in her eyes. It was a trick. She is a stinker!

I mailed this little surprise to the expectant parents last week. I think Hayden has enough gowns. My friend, who is a nurse in labor and delivery, told me that babies need sleep sacks nowadays rather than blankets. So, guess what, I bought a pattern today for sleep sacks. I just thought I was caught up!

New Dress for the Big Game

My daughter decided that she needed a new dress to wear to the big college football game. Western Kentucky University is playing Navy. She went through my fabric stash and chose a white knit with black polka dots. Since WKU's color is red, she added red accessories to show her school spirit. We have used this quick and easy pattern (McCall's 6112) a few times now, always with great results.

My favorite tip for sewing with knits is the double needle hem. I use a 4 mm double needle with wooly nylon in the bobbin. Pin up the hem very evenly and stitch from the right side of the garment. With this hem, you will still have lots of stretch in the hem and will not be popping stitches when the fabric stretches.

I also used this method to topstitch around the neckline after I finished it with a self-fabric "ribbing". This picture shows the front neckline and the inside of the back neckline.

I'm off to the game. Go Big Red!!!